Tallest Buildings in Los Angeles County

The Wilshire Grand Center in Downtown Los Angeles - Tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Los Angeles Almanac Photo.

The $1 billion Wilshire Grand Center, opened in 2017, moved ahead of the U.S. Bank Tower to become the tallest structure in Los Angeles. It is also the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River and (as of our last check) the 15th tallest in the nation. The building stands at 1,100 feet with 73 floors (the U.S. Bank Tower, also with 73 floors, stands at 1,018 feet). The newer building's mast raises its height above that of the U.S. Bank Tower. The Wilshire Grand Center project was first conceived as two towers, but that idea was dropped in 2012. Among other tenants, the Wilshire Grand Center houses the 900-room InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown hotel. The building is owned by Korean Air. It was designed by the architectural firm AC Martin, which, nine decades earlier, designed Los Angeles City Hall in 1928. It is built upon the site of the former Wilshire Grand Hotel (first opened as the Hotel Statler in 1952). The original structure was deconstructed in 2012 to clear the site for the new project. Many of the steel and concrete materials from the original structure were recycled into the new building. The building is designed to withstand an earthquake up to a magnitude 7.4 and even if, in a worst-case scenario, high-speed Santa Ana winds were slamming into the building at exactly the same time. Construction of the building included, in 2014, the world’s record for the largest continuous concrete pour. A total of 21,200 cubic yards of cement was poured into the foundation over 18 hours, delivered by 208 individual trucks. The concrete foundation, 17.5-feet thick and 80 feet below street level, ended up with 82 million pounds of concrete.

Buildings listed here can be classified as "skyscrapers" or multi-story buildings that are 100 meters or more (328-plus feet) in height.

Also see: Tallest Buildings in Los Angeles County by City/Community

Source: Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat & special thanks to Marshall Gerometta's World's Tallest Buildings